Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! Today is Wednesday, so I am sharing what is on my work desk with you! As you can see, not much craftiness going on today. I am in the midst of gift wrapping some presents for two of my girlfriends. Many have heard me speak highly of my "Jane Austen Group"; well, we are celebrating two of the gals' birthdays tomorrow. I have made their cards and I am finishing up the wrapping, etc.

You will notice a brown box there as well, waiting for me to dive in! It is my August card kit by Simon Says Stamp. I am not one to wait, and when it came today, I had to peek in, even though I knew I had no time for stamping today! Looks like it has some fun goodies in there, though!

Thank you to Julia for making this desk sharing (and snooping) fun possible! I hope to visit with some of you today! I can't wait to see what you are up to! Hopefully, next week, I will be creating something!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Hi, guys! I am glad you are visiting today! I cleaned the ink off my fingers and put on a pair of gardening gloves. I thought I would show you around my flower garden. Everything is growing nicely. I have been sharing my veggies and herbs, so now I am sharing some of the color and beauty.

Meet Mookie, our Met Gnome! He moves around my garden depending on what is in bloom. (The Travelocity Gnome has nothing on Mookie!) I decided to move him here since I just planted these lovely little flowers along my walkway.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! I thought I would share a birthday card I made for Mario Rossi for his birthday. I enjoy his BTS (Behind the Scenes) on Facebook where he shares what Tim Holtz is working on. It could be projects, or new products, or even Mario's homemade pizza (that always makes me hungry when I see it!). He works so hard year-round, and shares so much of his time and humor with all of us. If you follow Tim and Mario, you would know they love Starbucks. So I decided to make my card using a coffee theme.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! Today is Wednesday, and you know what that means! I am sharing what is on my work desk with you! Thank you to Julia of Stamping Ground for this desk-hopping (snooping) fun!

Today I am working on a personalized birthday card for a 3-year-old boy. I decided to use this set of stamps that are letter stamps shaped like animals. I also decided to use various animal print stamps for the background. Lots of inks of various colors on my desk today as well.

You will see I have a Diet Pepsi on my desk. It sure has been hot, so no hot tea for me!

I plan to visit as many of you as I can today. I hope the week ahead is a good one for all!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! Today I am sharing a birthday card I made for my niece Rory's birthday. I thought I would use one of my new Prima Mixed Media dolls, and plenty of various fun supplies that I don't get to use often.

This card is not in my usual "style" as it has a lot of things going on, but it was fun to be able to use my paints, and other media on this card. I love the tissue wrap and how transparent it is and how fun it was to ink and stamp on. One thing I really enjoy with these mixed media dolls is that I have a blast dressing them. I used different patterned papers to paper piece her dress and headband.

I hope my young niece Rory knows how much she is loved, and always remembers to aim high and soar!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! As many of you know, I am participating in the 12 Tags of 2013 challenge by Tim Holtz. Each month, I look forward to Tim posting his new tag and learning something new! This month, being July, the tag had a patriotic theme. Tim's was to thank the firefighters who lost their lives in the Arizona wildfires. I made mine using a patriotic theme, but mine focuses on how lucky and happy I am to be living here in the USA, and how "good" my life is because of it.

These tags are very technique and product heavy. I used crackle paint on the stars and "4," lots of Distress Stains, Distress Ink and stamps galore.

Winnie's fingers were very inky when I was all done with this tag! But boy, was it fun!

If you haven't tried one of these tags, I think you should. It is always a fun, creative challenge!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! This weekend I was able to spend some time in the garden. We have been having a lot of sunshine and very hot temperatures. I understand we will be having another heat wave this week. It has been a challenge trying to keep my veggies and herbs well watered. You may recall that I am doing tomatoes, peppers, and lots of herbs this year in addition to my usual flowers, etc. I thought I would share the progress with you. I posted in May when I started the plants. They are growing nicely. I have been using the parsley and basil in my cooking and marinating.

Basil and Parsley

Thyme and Rosemary

Peppers and Tomatoes

Tomatoes!!

More Tomatoes!

A Visitor (Who Loves My Herbs!)

Me and My Cone Flowers!

Thanks for meandering with me through my garden. It is progressing nicely and I cannot wait for the tomatoes to ripen so I can make homemade pasta sauce to freeze for the cold winter!

I have lots of the components done, just a matter of drying and assembling all of them.

As you can see, Winnie's fingers are definitely INKY now! I am a cross between a Smurf and Barney the Purple Dinosaur! The Ranger scrubbie will definitely be needed to restore my hands to their original look!

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to visiting with you today to see what you are up to!!

Enjoy the day! Hope you find some time in the day to do something YOU love!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! Today I am sharing a pet sympathy card I made for a blogger friend who lost her beloved kitty. I recall when I lost my cat Emily. Her passing came a year after I lost my husband. I feel God made sure she was still with me that first year of my grieving. I can't imagine living alone that year. I decided Bee could use a special card to know that I care and understand her loss.

Blogging makes the world a lot smaller and more personal to me. I am lucky this year to have "met" some very fine people and bloggers, and I count Bee among the finest. I hope this card helps bring some comfort.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well. Sorry for the lack of posts lately! Between work, the holiday and the heat, I haven't been able to sit down to create much! This weekend I was able to have some stamping fun finally!

I had to make a birthday card for a friend who asked for a card for a girlfriend. I remember Ann Marie (she used to work with us), so I decided to use this fun stamp by Design Design. It shows a very stylish lady in the city (which suits Ann Marie very well).

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! I have been busy these past few days enjoying family and friends. Today is Wednesday, so you know what that means! I am sharing what is on my work desk with you! Thank you to Julia of Stamping-Ground for this desk-hopping fun!

Sunday I had a barbecue to celebrate my birthday with my Jane Austen group of friends and sisters. I know many of you have heard of me speak of this great group of ladies. We have tea parties, and love all things Jane. It was a great time, filled with fun, food and plenty of laughter. I mention this because my desk is covered with lots of stamping supplies thanks to these great ladies. They know I love tea, Paris, stamps and cookbooks. I thought I would share the bounty with you.

I love that my friend Asia put a music CD with the stamp sets as they have the same name! How fun!

I will be spending many hours stamping and drinking fabulous tea as well!

Today is my actual birthday, and I took the day off from work to spend it with my hubby. We will be going out for tea at a local tea shop. I then plan to get back in my stamp room to organize all these wonderful gifts, and break them out to create something fun! Sure wish you could be here stamping with me! I just love christening brand new stamps!

I look forward to visiting with you today! I am so blessed with great family and friends, and I count you all among them!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Hi, guys! Today we are celebrating Independence Day here in the States. I thought I would share a few cards I made for the holiday. I made them for my parents, my hubby's dad, and a friend. I know that it is not the usual "card" holiday, but I love to send cards when I can't be with those I love.

This stamp is one of the Blueprint stamps by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous. I love how it turned out. I used Vintage Verdigris embossing powder to emboss Lady Liberty. I love the antique copper look it gave the image. The inside has a strip of embossed stars along the bottom. I used Core-dinations paper and sanded it.

For this next card I used another Blueprint stamp, and used my Distress Markers to watercolor it.

I decided for the next one to be a bit more whimsical. I used this fun stamp by Riley & Company. Riley as Lady Liberty! I used some fireworks stamps from my July Simon Says Stamp Kit, and Lily Bee patterned paper.

I thought I would share a video with you by a trio called Brother Sun. They are three of the finest musicians and gentlemen that I have had the privilege to meet. The song is called "Lady of the Harbor." I think it is perfect to share on this Independence Day. As an American, and a New Yorker, she means so much to me. I hope you enjoy it!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Hi, guys! Hope all is well! Today I am sharing a fun piece I made last night. I made a tag using a Prima paper doll. I decided to make a mixed media tag for myself after seeing a lot of them being made. Once I started working on the doll I remembered how much I loved playing with paper dolls as a little girl. I remember being able to sit for hours and dress them up over and over. Talk about a very low tech toy! But oh, the fun!

I was able to incorporate my love for paper dolls with Distress Ink and other goodies to create this tag. The tag is from the Prima Tag Pad, and I used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Ink to give it an aged look. The doll was stamped on Tim Holtz French Industrial paper. I paper pieced the clothing and headband with papers by Lily Bee. The sentiment is by Dyan Reaveley and I thought it was perfect for a tag with a young girl on it.

One thing I love about making mixed media pieces is that I can go through my stash and use my goodies. On this tag, I decided to use some dried flowers I was gifted by a friend. She picked them up on vacation in Italy! I kept "saving" them but decided this was the perfect piece to use them on. My friend Chaitali sent me the lovely lace trim!

This was so much fun for me to make. I bought 4 Prima Dolls, so I can't wait to make some more of these!

Have a great day! Hope you find some time in your day to do something you love!